Pint-sized hero hopes to help save little sister's life

Meet 'Marrow Man'

A 2-year-old Indiana girl has a new shot at a normal life, thanks to a bone marrow donation from her big brother.

Samantha Kessler suffers from a blood disorder that can dramatically shorten her life expectancy and required monthly blood transfusions. But Friday, she’s recovering after receiving bone marrow donated by her 4-year-old brother.

Jameson Kessler has taken to calling himself “Marrow Man” and wearing a cape.

WLWT News 5’s Andrew Setters met Jameson Friday and said you wouldn’t be able to tell he just went through surgery yesterday. He is a rambunctious and talkative boy.

Jameson said he was happy to donate, “because I had to make my sister feel better.”

His parents, Kyrie and Jeremy Kessler, have four children, and said when their youngest Samantha was diagnosed, they discussed the idea of bone marrow donation with all the kids.

Kyrie said she would not have made Jameson become a donor if he was afraid to donate. She said he had no hesitation.

“He was the first one that was like, 'I’ll do it,'” Kyrie said.

Thursday, both of the kids went through surgery at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Jameson donated marrow, and Samantha received it.

“It was a long day, a lot of stress,” Kyrie said of having both her kids in surgery.

But she says Jameson handled it well, and was actually able to be in the room as Samantha received his potentially life-saving donation.

So far, Samantha is doing well with the bone marrow transplant, but she still has several months of recovery before they know if the transplant is a success.

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